“Go on.” Lulu bumped his shoulder against Xavi’s, whose gaze shifted between all the cheeses of various sizes and consistencies placed neatly behind a glass screen.
“I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Xavi shrugged, but the big dude just smiled even broader, reaching for a soft cheese with a red and white flag Lulu didn’t recognize next to it. Geography had never been his strong suit; Xavi’s delicious body the only land he was eager to explore, perhaps invade, too, if Xavi would ever let him.
“We just had this delivered yesterday,” the guy hummed knowingly, his blue eyes shining brightly, competing with the overhead lights in the market. He seemed to pause for a second, his gaze locking onto Lulu’s arm, which was still linked through Xavi’s. Then he nodded, just a barely there tilt of his head. “It’s my husband’s favorite.” A subtle blush swept along the guy’s cheeks, disappearing behind his beard. Then he turned, calling out into the back somewhere. “Babe? C’mere for a sec, will ya?”
Within a second, another big dude, perhaps even slightly bigger than the first, appeared, a strawberry blond head of curls tucked under a blue bandana. Wiping his massive hands on a kitchen towel, he threw it over his shoulder. He, too, wore an apron, this one black, though, with something written in yellow letters across the front. “What’s up?” He smiled, coming to stand next to the other guy. There wasa softness in his eyes as he regarded the bearded dude, a softness that spoke of love and affection, and it was clear to Lulu that they were head over heels in love, these two giant cheese aficionados.
When he’d apparently feasted his eyes long enough on his husband, the bandana guy turned toward Lulu and Xavi, smiling welcomingly. “Hey, how are you guys today?” There was a slight accent to his pronunciation, a hardness with no intention of coming across as harsh, if that even made sense.
“My friend Xavi loves cheese,” Lulu blurted like an idiot, pointing his thumb at Xavi, and the guy’s chest rumbled with a low, deep laughter.
“Well, you’ve come to the right place, then.”
“I was gonna have them tryyourcheese, babe.” The bearded guy blushed even harder, cutting off two small chunks of the creamy-looking white cheese.
“Oh, I’m not really a cheese eater.” Lulu held out his hand dismissively. Any kind of cheese was wasted on him unless it was melted into a sticky mess on top of a massive mountain of nachos. The two guys shared a look, then the blue bandana guy winked at Lulu. “Oh, you’ll be now, brother.”Brother. Hermano.Lulu’s gaze dipped to the yellow print on the guy’s apron. Up close, he could now make out the words easily.My man can melt the cheese right off your bun.Lulu swallowed, envy pooling in his chest. To be in love like these two and to be so open about it. Lulu craved that more than anything else. And not just with any guy, no, only with the guy standing next to him, who was now reaching for the chunk of cheese offered to him on a little wooden spoon.
Xavi briefly inspected the piece of cheese, then lifted it to his mouth. Lulu’s gaze zeroed in on Xavi’s lips as they wrapped around the spoon. Xavi’s face was expressionless at first until his eyes grew wide as the flavor clearly hit his taste buds. Xavi hummed deliciously around the spoon as his eyes fluttered closed, his full lips wrapped around the spoon. Holy shit, if this was how Xavi looked when pleasure swept through his body, Lulu wanted nothing more than to bring Xavi pleasure again and again and again. For the rest of his life. It was fucking addicting.
Eventually, Xavi opened his eyes, pulling the spoon from his lips with a small pop. Licking his lips languidly, he spoke almost in awe, “What the hell is this cheese?”
The bandana guy laughed, wrapping his muscular arm around his husband’s shoulders. “It’s goat cheese. From Denmark. It’s from a small dairy on an island called Møn. It’s where I’m from,” the guy puffed out his chest with pride, his eyes a little glassy, perhaps with an acute spell of homesickness or nostalgia. “It’s good, right?”
“It’s fucking awesome,” Xavi blurted, then licked his lips, which sent small shivers washing over Lulu’s body. Xavi smiled crookedly, his lips glistening with saliva, and it was pure torture standing so close to him without being able to leanin and justlick, lick, lickat those puffy pink cushions, just feasting the fuck out of them. “You have to try it,mano.” He blinked at Lulu, his coffee-brown eyes shimmering with intoxication. “For me,” he added breathily, and Lulu nearly died then and there, death by swoon again and all that. Lulu found himself nodding, almost in a daze, as the bandana guy handed him a clean spoon with a chunk of the creamiest-looking cheese on it. But before Lulu could accept it, Xavi intercepted him and grabbed the spoon from the guy’s fingers. “Let me,” Xavi rasped, heat moving through his eyes, making the coffee-brown even darker, near black. Then he held the spoon in front of Lulu’s lips.
Lulu slowly opened his mouth and sucked the cheese off the spoon. At first, he just tasted something salty and sharp. Then, as the cheese melted on his tongue, an entire rainbow of flavors exploded in his mouth. Flavors so familiar, yet unknown. Flavors he had no words for, but which swept through his body, making it hum with delight.
“Good, yeah?” the bearded guy said, pressing a quick kiss against his husband’s temple.
“Very,” Lulu whispered, licking his lips after Xavi pulled the spoon away. “So good,” he slurred.
Xavi frowned at him, his eyes swimming with want. There was no doubt about it. Lulu recognized it for what it was. His eyes didn’t leave Lulu’s lips, and when he licked them again, a muffled, keening sound spilled from Xavi’s mouth, which he then quickly disguised with a cough.
“You’ve got a little…” Xavi reached for Lulu, then brushed his thumb along Lulu’s bottom lip, a barely there touch, yet still leaving a trail of flames in its wake. “Just some… cheese,” Xavi gulped, his eyes locked on Lulu’s mouth. Then, as if Lulu wasn’t already close to melting into a pool of Danish goat cheese on the white-tiled floors, Xavi sucked his thumb into his mouth, humming around it as his eyes fluttered closed once again.
Holy fucking Viking village.Now Lulu was the one making a tortured, keening sound. Xavi’s thumb in his mouth was the single most erotic sight Lulu’d ever seen. Then, with his eyes still glued to Xavi’s lips, Lulu said, “We’ll take it.”
The bandana guy laughed, a lofty, happy sound. “How much?”
“All you’ve got,hermano,” Lulu blurted, secretly hoping goat cheese from an island whose name he would never be able to pronounce didn’t cost him the rest of this month’s salary. If it did, though, it was just too fucking bad.
Xavi seemed to awaken from his stupor and discarded the wooden spoons into the trash can next to the counter. Quickly wrapping the cheese in some white paper, the bandana guy handed it to his husband, who carefully put it into a brown paper bag.
“Here you go,” he beamed as he handed the bag to Lulu. “Enjoy.” He winked at Xavi, who brushed a hand along his buzzed head.
“How much?” Lulu asked, reaching for his wallet in his jacket.
“Oh, it’s on the house,” the bearded guy smiled. “From one brother to another.” He tugged at his beard, and Lulu’s chest squeezed.
“Have a good one.” His husband grinned, then handed Xavi a business card. “We have an online store, too.” Xavi nodded, accepting the card.
“We’re not from Cleveland,” he said.
“No? Where’re you from then?”
“Buffalo.”
“Cool. Well, we still deliver. Overnight. Go check us out anytime. Or stop by again.”
